Debate Over Diary's Authenticity
Benjamin Hoff based much of his argument for authenticity on the premise that it would have been an extraordinarily elaborate deception for the adult Whiteley to first create a diary as a child might have printed it, then tear it up, store it and reassemble it for Sedgwick and the Atlantic Monthly. Furthermore, he indicated that he personally examined some of the few remaining diary pages and that chemical tests of the crayon markings showed that the crayons were manufactured prior to World War I. This claim was initially made by Lawrence in Opal Whiteley, The Unsolved Mystery, who said she had had the diary pages submitted for scientific scrutiny.
Some claim that she fabricated the diary to gain publicity and that she suffered from a psychological disease (possibly schizophrenia) that led her to engage in fantasies about her "true" parents.
Read more about this topic: Opal Whiteley
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